That was one of Darrell Royal's homespun sayings, referring to the rare moments when he veered into the unexpected during his 20-year coaching career at Texas, and Brown made it live once more during UT's 33-7 victory over Iowa State at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

In the wake of Royal's death Wednesday, Brown said the Longhorns would honor the late coach by lining up for their first offensive play in the wishbone, the four-back, triple-option formation that carried Texas to two national championships and 30 consecutive wins from 1968-70.

They did so from the 6-yard line with 10:51 to play in the opening quarter. But rather than running a traditional dive to the fullback or a down-the-line quarterback option, Brown served up a play that would have startled his old friend.

Texas quarterback David Ash took the snap from center and pitched out to left halfback Jaxon Shipley. Shipley threw a backward pass to Ash, who threw to Greg Daniels for a 47-yard completion.

It wasn't as breathtaking as "right 53 veer pass," the 43-yard desperation heave Royal called in the 1969 "Big Shootout" between No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Arkansas that led to the final score in a 15-14 UT win, and it didn't lead to a touchdown.

Worth a shot

But on a day when the letters DKR were stenciled on the Longhorns logo at midfield and fans lined up before and after the game to take pictures in front of Royal's statue, it was another tribute — and a successful one — to the greatest name in UT football.

Not that Royal would have approved of the setting: deep in Texas territory, with a play the Longhorns didn't add to their repertoire until after Royal's death.

"These crazy young coaches came back with a double-reverse pass, and I said, 'Are you kidding? That would make him madder than anything,' " Brown said.

"The only way I could justify the double pass was coach said when you throw a pass three things can happen and two things are bad. So I thought if you throw it twice, it means two good things could happen."

Brown said he and offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin came up with an alternate plan, if circumstances made it difficult to run the double-pass play, to line up in the wishbone in tribute to Royal and call a timeout before reverting to a normal formation.

At crunch time, Brown said he told Harsin, " 'Heck, run it. What the heck. (Royal is) watching. He's got enough spunk. He'll like the fact that we're taking a shot at it.' ... It was a fun play and maybe had a little bit of intervention from up above."

Brown, who came to Texas in 1998 at Royal's behest and described the coach as a father figure, was smiling and dry-eyed as he described the play and the ensuing scene, with players and coaches pointing to the sky in tribute to Royal.

The tears, he said, came Wednesday when he learned Royal, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, had died at 88 from complications of heart disease.

"I just sat down on the floor and cried," Brown said. "I couldn't talk to anybody because I lost a huge part of my life. ... He's been such a great friend."

Statue a popular spot

There was an eight-second moment of silence before the game, and the Longhorn Band spelled out "Royal" at halftime. Brown said a game ball would be presented to Edith Royal, the coach's widow.

Royal also appeared in several film clips on the giant scoreboard behind the stadium's south end zone, including one in which he looked into the camera and said, "The eyes of Texas are upon you."

The Longhorns did their part to honor Royal, and fans posed for photos in front of Royal's statue, which was surrounded by flowers, a T-shirt, a foam football and a wreath with a ribbon reading, "Thanks Coach UT Athletics."

"We grew up with Darrell Royal," said Stan Johnson of Austin. "At the supper table when I was about this tall, we talked about Darrell Royal. He is going to be a missed icon around here."